The Supporting Farm Operations Act of 2025 directs the Secretary of Labor to keep the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) that was in effect in each State on December 31, 2023 as the AEWR for H‑2A nonimmigrant agricultural workers in that State through December 31, 2026. The bill cites the AEWR regulatory provision at 20 C.F.R. §655.1308 as the operative hook.
The bill also requires the Secretary to determine H‑2A wage obligations through a “primary duties evaluation” for workers who perform multiple tasks. For employers and compliance officers, the package creates a temporary wage freeze that reduces near‑term upward pressure on labor costs while introducing a new, duty‑focused rule for job classification and wage assignment.
At a Glance
What It Does
Directs the Department of Labor to maintain each State’s AEWR as it stood on December 31, 2023, for H‑2A workers through December 31, 2026, and instructs the Department to use a primary‑duties evaluation when assigning wage classifications to multi‑task employees.
Who It Affects
Agricultural employers who recruit H‑2A workers, H‑2A nonimmigrants admitted under INA §101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a), farm labor contractors, state workforce agencies that publish AEWRs, and DOL enforcement units.
Why It Matters
It temporarily removes the Department of Labor’s annual upward adjustments to AEWRs for the H‑2A program and replaces multi‑duty wage assignment with a primary‑duties test — a combo that materially changes wage costs, hiring calculations, and compliance documentation for seasonal agriculture.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill addresses two narrow pieces of H‑2A administration: the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) and how to classify workers who perform multiple tasks. AEWR is a state‑level wage floor that DOL publishes to prevent employers from hiring H‑2A workers at rates that would harm U.S. agricultural workers.
Normally DOL updates AEWRs annually to reflect prevailing wages and economic conditions. This bill directs DOL to treat whatever AEWR was in effect in each State on December 31, 2023 as the continuing AEWR for that State until December 31, 2026.
Freezing AEWRs does not create a new wage‑setting formula; it freezes the existing state numbers and requires DOL to use them for all H‑2A calculations and certifications during the freeze period. Practically, employers who file H‑2A applications, place job orders, or calculate per‑hour or piece wages will use the 2023 state AEWRs rather than any higher rates DOL might otherwise publish for 2024–2026.The bill’s second change is procedural but consequential: when a farm employee splits time across tasks, DOL must determine the wage by conducting a “primary duties evaluation” rather than averaging across tasks or using other multi‑task rules.
That pushes employers to document job descriptions and primary duties at hiring and may change which wage classification — and therefore which wage floor — applies to mixed‑duty positions.For compliance officers, two operational effects follow. First, payroll and H‑2A application models should be adjusted to lock AEWR inputs to 2023 state values for the freeze period.
Second, job orders, contracts, and internal classification practices should be revised to support a defensible primary‑duties determination in the event of audits or complaints. The bill leaves the details of how to conduct a primary‑duties evaluation to the Secretary, which means guidance or regulation will be necessary to translate the requirement into consistent practice.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Section 2 requires the Secretary of Labor to keep each State’s AEWR at whatever level it was on December 31, 2023 for H‑2A nonimmigrants through December 31, 2026.
The bill applies to nonimmigrants admitted under INA §101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(a) — the H‑2A temporary agricultural worker classification.
Section 3 requires the Secretary to use a “primary duties evaluation” to determine which wage applies when an H‑2A employee performs more than one task.
The statute cites 20 C.F.R. §655.1308 as the regulatory provision governing the AEWR implementation referenced in the bill.
During the freeze period the Department is directed to maintain the 2023 AEWR numbers in H‑2A certifications and related filings, preventing upward AEWR adjustments before January 1, 2027.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
Provides the Act’s name: the Supporting Farm Operations Act of 2025. This is purely titular and carries no operational effect, but it frames the bill’s stated purpose for interpretation and outreach materials.
Freeze AEWRs at 2023 state levels through 2026
Directs the Secretary of Labor to ensure that the AEWR that was in effect in each State on December 31, 2023 remains the AEWR for H‑2A workers in that State through December 31, 2026. Practically, DOL must use those 2023 state values when issuing H‑2A labor certifications, calculating required wages on job orders, and for any compliance determinations tied to AEWR during the freeze. This provision replaces whatever normal annual adjustment process DOL would follow for the time period specified.
Primary‑duties test for multi‑task positions
Mandates that the Secretary utilize a primary duties evaluation when determining the wage owed to employees performing multiple duties. The bill does not define the evaluation’s metrics, so DOL will need to issue guidance or rulemaking to explain how to identify a job’s primary duty, what documentation employers must keep, and how this interacts with piece‑rate and hourly wage calculations in the H‑2A context.
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Explore Agriculture in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Agricultural employers who use H‑2A workers — gain short‑term cost predictability and avoid potential AEWR increases that would raise labor expense during 2024–2026.
- Farm labor contractors and growers with tight seasonal budgets — can budget labor costs without near‑term upward AEWR shocks, easing contract pricing and cash‑flow planning.
- State agricultural associations and farm trade groups — receive policy stability and a temporary regulatory environment favorable to near‑term labor cost control.
Who Bears the Cost
- H‑2A workers — face wage stagnation when AEWRs do not rise to reflect inflation or local market changes, reducing real earnings through 2026.
- U.S. farmworkers seeking higher prevailing wages — lose a potential upward pressure mechanism as AEWR increases are paused.
- Department of Labor and state workforce agencies — must craft guidance, interpret “primary duties,” and adjust certification and enforcement processes, creating administrative and training burdens without an appropriation in the bill.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill trades near‑term cost certainty for agricultural employers against statutory protections that raise foreign and domestic farmworkers’ pay; it solves employer budgeting and political concerns about rising AEWRs but does so by constraining DOL’s technical wage‑setting role, leaving unresolved how to balance worker protections, market conditions, and administrative consistency.
The bill is narrow but leaves key implementation questions open. It tells DOL to ‘‘ensure’’ the 2023 AEWRs remain in place, but it does not specify whether DOL may adjust how AEWRs are published, whether interim corrections are allowed, or how the freeze interacts with pending rulemakings or litigation over wage methodology.
That ambiguity invites administrative guidance and possibly litigation about the Department’s obligations and discretion during the freeze window.
The primary‑duties requirement is also underspecified. The phrase can be operationalized in many ways — time‑based tests, production output, supervisory determination, or a hybrid — and the choice affects wage outcomes and litigation risk.
Employers will need formal job analyses to defend classifications, while workers and advocates may challenge attempts to designate lower‑paid tasks as ‘‘primary.’’ Finally, freezing nominal wages during a period of inflation will likely erode real wages for H‑2A workers and could change incentives for recruitment and retention in tight labor markets, producing unintended effects on crop harvest timing and farm productivity.
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